From the end of last season into the early part of 2024, no one could stop Jannik Sinner.
He played a leading role in helping Italy land its first Davis Cup title in nearly 50 years and despite an enforced pause due to the off-season, soared to a maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
In both events, he managed to defeat behemoth Novak Djokovic.
But the extended nature of the tennis calendar, which entails changing surfaces and possibly dealing with physical setbacks, means such glittering form can be hard to maintain.
Carlos Alcaraz beat Sinner on the way to winning the French Open and then won the title again at Wimbledon, where illness hampered his friend in a five-set loss to Daniil Medvedev.
Sinner also had to skip the Paris Olympics.
Yet it meant that Sinner headed to the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in late July — and he is back on the surface where his biggest titles have come.
He is the defending champion, too, triumphing in Toronto in 2023.
“I arrived here quite early, firstly to get rid of the jet lag,” Sinner, who became the world No. 1 in June, told reporters Monday. “And then secondly to recover here, the last part of the (tonsilitis) that I had. For sure the first couple of days were very slow days with not a lot of practice and trying to get the body used to it again.
“Now I’m practising a little bit harder again. I feel the body quite well, honestly, really good and ready to compete again.”
Sinner had a chance to get used to the tennis conditions in Montréal when he contested doubles and won alongside Jack Draper on Tuesday. They were back at it Wednesday.
The balls, he said, are flying.
His second-round singles opponent after a bye, Borna Coric, has certainly gotten used to the tennis environment in Montréal.
Once a former Top 15 player, Coric has seen his ranking drop to its current No. 94.
Thus he had to play qualifying before toppling Spain’s Pedro Martinez in the first round on Wednesday.
Sinner beat Coric in three sets in their only previous head to head in Monte Carlo in 2022.
As Coric recalled, it wasn’t a particularly clean match from either that day.
The Croatian said his season overall hasn’t been all that tidy, either, especially on the dirt.
“I had the worst season on clay so far in my whole life,” Coric, who went 2-5 on the European clay, told a pair of reporters. “I’m not sure why. There’s a couple of things that can lead up to it. Not a great season so far, didn’t do many points but working hard to get the best out of it.”At least the elbow injury that hampered him last season is under control.
Coric is embracing the chance to face Sinner, who he suspected he first met in 2017 or 2018.
“For sure, it’s a great excitement,” said the 27-year-old, who owns two wins over No. 1 players, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. “It’s going to be a very good test to see where I am at. Obviously, he is the big favourite and playing unbelievable tennis this year.
“But I always like a good challenge. It’s going to be very fun for sure. I’m happy with my level of tennis so far here, so hopefully it can be a good match.”
Coric has history at Masters 1000 events and with a lower ranking than his current one.
Down at 152nd in Cincinnati in 2022 — he used a protected ranking to play in Ohio — Coric and his athletic baseline game ended up going all the way with wins over the likes of Rafael Nadal and Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime.
While he is bidding to get past the second round in Canada for the first time, Sinner tries to become the first back-to-back champion since Nadal in 2019.
